Unlimited Showdown: Sprint And T-Mobile Introduce Competing Unlimited Plans On The Same Day

Let the battle begin. Two major US wireless carriers, Sprint and T-Mobile, have just introduced competing new unlimited data options for their respective customers, especially those who are okay with the idea of watching video content at lower quality. The good news is that the carriers’ new plans are cheaper than the usual $95 per month that each mobile operator charges for unlimited data.

Sprint’s new plan is called Unlimited Freedom (going live on August 19th), and basically it starts at $60 a month for the first line of service, then $40 a month for the second line of service, and $30 a month for every extra line of service (maximum is five total members). For two members, the total price is only $100 a month, which means that each customer pays $50 a month, saving $10 on the regular $60 a month rate if they each avail of the plan individually. By the way, Sprint’s Unlimited Freedom comes with unlimited voice calls, text messaging, and 4G LTE data, as well as optimized streaming video, gaming, and music, with zero access fees or hidden fees.

Not content with the new Unlimited Freedom plan, Sprint is also launching a new unlimited option for its prepaid customers by way of its prepaid brand Boost Mobile. Also on August 19th, Boost Mobile will launch its Unlimited Unhook’d plan, with the first line of service at $50 a month, while the second line of service is offered at $30 a month. Customers can get up to a maximum five lines of service in total.

And now for T-Mobile’s new offer -- going live on September 6th, the T-Mobile One unlimited plan features unlimited voice calls, text messaging, and high speed 4G LTE data. The first line of service will cost $70 a month, the second line of service $50 a month, and extra lines of service will be priced at $20 a month for up to eight lines with auto pay enabled (without auto pay, the rate will be $5 more a month). Families with four members can avail of the new plan at $40 a month per member. For two people, the cost will be $120 a month, or $60 a month per person.

Between the two new plans from Sprint and T-Mobile, the differences lie in hotspot use and tethering. Sprint customers who want to use their device as a hotspot to connect other devices are not charged extra, but T-Mobile customers are. With regards to tethering, Sprint offers it at full 4G speeds up to 5 gigabytes a month at no extra cost, while T-Mobile offers unlimited tethering at 129 kbps -- those who want access to 4G speeds better be prepared to pay an extra $15 for 5 gigabytes of data a month.